Chiaki Minami
Basic Facts Name: 'Chiaki Minami (南 千秋, Minami Chiaki) ' Age: 10-11 Voiced by: Minori Chihara First introduced (manga): Chapter 000 First introduced (anime): Minami-ke Episode 01 Chiaki is the youngest Minami sister. She is an elementary student, in class 5-2 (a reference to Kyou no Gono Ni). She is implied to be an excellent student, and is often seen reading one or another thick textbook. Despite her presumably high intelligence, her young age and lack of experience often lead her to overanalyze simple things. Her personality is a mixture of snide cynicism beyond her years and childish naivete. Her catchphrase is to call people (especially Kana and Makoto) "bakayarou". Her childishness is apparent in her dislike of carrots, peppers, scallions, and other such vegetables--though in the case of carrots, the events of Betsubara or Chapter 118 may have changed this. In addition, she is incapable of swimming or dealing with the water, despite repeated attempts to deal with this. She is also ignorant of strange things. In season one, episode twelve, she receives a stuffed bear which she christens "Fujioka" (not to be confused with Fujioka). She often uses the bear to hide things, or as a missile, usually against Kana. Character Design Chiaki is roughly the average height of everyone else in her age class, which means shorter than the males, but the same height as Uchida and Yoshino. Her eyes are hazel in the anime, the same as her sisters, but are red in the manga covers. Her hair, which she wears long and down, varies from light brown, to blond which tapers into black highlights, to blond over the three seasons. It is simply blond in the manga covers. On her head is a notable bulky leaf-shaped ahoge. In Okawari, this ahoge can twitch spontaneously, usually as an expression of Chiaki's emotions when she is otherwise passive. It temporarily divides in two in episode nine of that season. Interactions with Others School Life The bratty undisputed ruler of her domain, the entirety of class 5-2 bends to her will, a power which she, however, exercises only infrequently. The exception is Makoto, who she torments and commands on a constant basis. In Minami-ke Episode 02, she gives herself the nickname "hime," or princess. This nickname sticks due to its sheer accuracy, but it is one she immediately hates, despite her having coined it herself. She spends most of her time in the company of Uchida and Yoshino, and also with Touma from the neighboring class 5-1. She has only minor interactions with Shuuichi. Her interactions with the school nurse, Kumada, are also a source of amusement. With Kana Outwardly, Chiaki views Kana as an unredeemable idiot, and tolerates her idiocy with an air of resignation. On one occasion (Okawari, episode two), she even refers to Kana as akin to a pet, which you must treat well but discipline and restrain if necessary. Chiaki punches, throws stuffed bears at, and otherwise physically abuses her sister on a regular basis, as punishment for her foolish acts. This is the basis for a tsukommi which is repeated over and over throughout the series. However, this avowed attitude is not the whole story. Chiaki occasionally shows affection towards Kana and seems to think of her as more of misguided sister to be drawn to the correct path than as the irredeemable idiot she publicly treats her as. They share moments of sisterly affection, including very memorable scenes in the last episode of Okaeri—Chiaki clings to Kana because she had a dream Kana disappeared, and later on expresses great emotion when a seeming suicide note from Kana is discovered—and there are signs that the seemingly hostile banter between them is just that: banter, and almost a ritual. Chiaki occasionally makes efforts to aid Kana and Kana does her part as well—though often in a hilariously misguided way. They are sisters, after all. She also places Haruka in high regards; she respects and looks up to Haruka. Although being the youngest, she is the meanest out of the three; most of the time, she is quiet during group activities, and almost always uses the word "bakayarou" (meaning dumbass in or simply you fool in Japanese), which is a more forceful form for "idiot" in Japanese ("baka" being the less forceful term). Chiaki seems to know that Fujioka is genuinely in love with Kana. After talking with Haruka, Chiaki has come to associate Fujioka as a father figure and will often place herself on his lap when she seeks fatherly affection or to complete the family experience. "Chiaki" contains the kanji for "autumn". Speculation Notable Scenes Category:Character Category:Minami-ke Character